Friday, June 5, 2009

Marbelizing Dye Try...

The other night I was studying one of Karen Kahle's pattern books and trying to figure out if she really changes colors every three or four loops. I think Ihave figured out that yes, she does change colors quite often but I also read that she almost always uses marbelized wool for her backgrounds.Don't you just love her work? I think the soft colors are so feminine and girly. (I've been accused of being "such a girl") I took it as a compliment although I'm pretty sure it was meant as sarcasm. Anyway back to the topic, Karen said the marbelized recipe she used for this particular light pinkish and greenish background were a camel, a burgandy and a dark forrest green colored wools. With the camel color in the middle of the "sandwich". Well I had all of these colored wools so I set out to duplicate her soft palate. Mine didn't exactly turn out soft...Here is Karen's rug. From her Primitive Spirit website. See how nice and subtle hers is? This is not the exact background I was trying to accomplish, but you understand what I mean.

I guess maybe I let it "stew" too long or added too much soap or too much Jet Dry? I really don't know. It's the first time I have tried this method. Please, any help would be appreciated. Have you done this type of dyeing before and would you like to help me? LOL

More like scary. Maybe good for some Halloween rugs. Orange, black and this bright purplish reddish pink! Or maybe bright hibiscus flowers or a Hawaiian sunset. Now I'm on the right track for these intense colors.And I'm always saying I like bright colors more than the drab primitive colors. Actually it's my husband that doesn't like the prim colors. He thinks they're depressing. When I lived in a 100 year old farmhouse it was Very primitive. Chipping peeling paint on everything. That was "BM"- before Mickey. He will only put up with a few chippy things in our house. But hey, the poor guy does sleep in a pink bedroom afterall. That's enough compromise for me!

These are the colors I came out with from just the leftover BLOOD water! That's what I've heard it called anyway. What came out of the fabrics as they were marbelizing. LOTS OF COLOR still left in the water! These were pieces of natural wool.

And my baby is sick.

Tuesday night I fed him some vegetable soup. Well the vegis, not the broth. He has an "upset tummy"-- Coming out both ends to be exact. Sorry to be so gross. He's lost just two ounces short of a whole pound. Anyway this morning I called the vet and they said to bring him in this afternoon. The Dr. examined him and I told him about the soup on Tuesday. (And Mickey feeds him people food every morning-usually some ground beef or macaroni and cheese.) He said Jimmie Dean just has some digestive track upset and inflamation. Just upset is to say the least. We were up at midnight last night cleaning the carpet in our bedroom. He gave him an antibiotic shot and a B12 shot. And five days worth of anti-inflamatory pills. No food for another 24 hours and just a tablespoon of water every hour. Poor baby. I can't hardly stand it. My mom asked me when I told her I gave him vegi soup if it wouldn't give him a stomach ache. Boy, do mothers always know best!

I got two new Pro Chem dye books in the mail today . I'll read them and then give my unqualified opinion of them to you tomorrow.

We're nearing the 100 post mark. I think I'll try to write every day until I hit it. Then the give away. I love to give stuff away. Makes me happy. Makes me smile. My mom would say that's good for me!

4 comments:

Poor Jimmy Dean, I hate it when my babies are sick...FYI for you...make him some peppermint tea and put some honey in it. I have read that little dogs will get hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) so the honey takes care of that and the tea is good for the nausea...

Sheri, talk to Debbie at Eureka, she does alot of Tide and jet dry color changing. I love what you got with the blood water. Be on the safe side and don't give Jimmy Dean anything but dog food. We had ours in the vet for a week with pancreitis from giving him everything but dog food. Patty has two new Yorkie puppies. Patty and Debbie will be at Eureka, I will be taking care of the shop

I think it's just a case of experimenting with quantities and 'cooking' times until you get just the effect you want. Keep a notebook of each time you experiment, so that when something turns out well you can repeat the formula. The range of shades from the leftover water are absolutely stunning - beautiful.

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About Me

I've been hooking rugs for about six years. I started with one lesson and was "hooked"! I immediately started drawing my own patterns and dyeing wool too.
I also love decorating our home and gardening.
And I'm proud to say that I'm a two year breast cancer survivor!!